Boom! Bilbo's birthday party times 1000 Gandalf seems to take heat pretty well. Fights a Balrog: Check. Withstands a fireball from Saruman (movie Gandalf): Check. That or Smaug just crushes Gandalf when he falls from the sky and they both die... "'Ai! ai!' wailed Legolas. 'A Balrog! A Balrog is come!' Gimli stared with wide eyes. 'Durin's Bane!' he cried, and letting his axe fall he covered his face. 'A Balrog,' muttered Gandalf. 'Now I understand. What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.''

1. Smaug, though cunning and probing, is as arrogant as he is chatty. Gandalf is clever enough to take advantage of that, and trick Smaug into revealing his weakness. After all, Bilbo was able to figure it out, so why couldn't an actual Maia and Istar? Furthermore, Smaug wasn't even aware he was revealing his weakness to Bilbo when he did. He wouldn't be hiding it from Gandalf, even in open combat. If anything, he would show off his jewel-encrusted frontside as means to intimidate. Gandalf would find it, one way or another, because he is Gandalf.

2. A dragon, though mighty among Middle Earth inhabitants, is not Maia. If G (a Maia) can defeat the Balrog (a Maia), defeating a dragon should be no problem, especially if it has a discernible weakness (see #1 above).

3. Smaug is extremely vulnerable at the weakness (like the Death Star). Just a teeny arrow, ploink, he's dead. Gandalf's got this. A well-placed lightning bolt would more than suffice.

4. Gandalf has allies and friends who tend to come along when he's in a tight spot. Smaug is a loner and has no one. If Smaug were to use his power of flight to his advantage, Gandalf might notice a moth fluttering by.....you know the rest. The power of deus ex machina, I mean eucatastrophe rather, is strong in this one.

5. Even if Smaug were to defeat G somehow, it would only be temporary. G would just keep coming back, whereas when Smaug dies, game over.

I really don't know how to feel about this one. Gandalf is immortal and Dragons are mortal but I've always felt Dragons had more raw destructive power than anything else in Middle Earth. They were Morgoth's greatest creation and it was they who drove back the host of the Valar which contained not just the High Elf army of Valinor but also many Maia and were led by Eonwe. I always felt the weak spot, hollow on the breast, etc. was natures achilles hill to give way to stop something that in all other aspects would be unstoppable.

LoL this is exactly why I find the Hobbit dumb. What is exciting about a character that is immortal?

Also you think Morgoth would be smart enough to make immortal monsters or lighting dragons which would probably be impossible to defeat. Think about it - yeah good luck defeating lightning dragon when his death is faster then an ARROW!

Frankly i'd rather be cheering on for the mortal characters vs someone who is immortal.

Stories with immortal characters are just really dumb and most my non dragon friends would agree with me on this issue.

Thanks for saying Gandalf is immortal it made my day. Another reason to hate on the Hobbit and LOTR.

Ok, I have no idea how your post even comments on an encounter between Smaug and Gandalf.

However, I will comment on the character of Gandalf. Gandalf as an act of selflessness agreed to his mission as one of the Istari even though he doubted his ability to confront Sauron. He and the other Istari agreed that they would not go to Middle Earth in their angelic forms but wear the form of men and be subjected to a lessening in power and be subjected to mortal frailties of pain and death and emotions such as fear. Gandalf is interesting because his spirit was one of service to others, not himself and one of selflessness and self-sacrifice and despite the distractions and temptations that come with living as a man in middle earth for thousands of years he held true to his mission to not rule but advise and counsel those of middle earth to combat the evil of Sauron. Sorry, but IMHO, that makes him an extremely interesting character.